I.
you kiss my breasts
and the blood gathers beneath my skin just to be near you.
becomes the place i bathe you
a shimmering mineral pool of diamonds and berries
oshun’s honey and magnolia blossoms in bloom.
this is my dream . . .
i am a mermaid
you—
on the shore cutting watermelon
you—
feeding me
you—
rubbing oil into my hot body.
you and i
a river running through us.
II.
this was me before you—
mouth wide in the arkansas lapping the waves
that flowed from your hands.
my feet in the river
pressing blessings through rocks and mud
sending godlove anointed water to you.
i prayed for you—
through lotawatah/ and tenkiller/
deep fork.
through waters surrounded by land and air. open sky.
through lakes and rivers who’d heard rumors
of the sight of the sea.
how the very presence of it will
drop
you
to
your
knees.
i sang your ship to me
sang the siren song that was in my belly the first time I saw your face
your eyes
the unbearable beauty of you.
come to me come to me come to me come to me come to me
if you had sailed away from me . . .
if you had sailed away from me
i would have died on this rock
fish falling through my fingers like sighs.
you listened to me-
through the altamaha/ and the ohoopee/
the ogeechee.
the flint/ocmulgee/the mighty chattahoochee.
your heart and soul swimming to me.
there is nothing else that sustains me.
sweet soft. a quick/lick from a sugared spoon.
III.
your rivers are georgia pines deeper than green.
the liquor in a pot of collards. a smoky bone.
the tip of your tongue in my mouth.
taste the salt of my tears.
you are macon mud rich
a frozen rock
in a hot spot.
me
breaking through to the core.
my rivers are sky and sky and sky
a little golden girl barefoot on the creek plains
arms reaching to the sky/waiting for the storm
giggling with the wind and the rain.
a perfect peach.
my outstretched hand holding for you a single drop of dew.
IV.
i am the fish that swims both ways in the river.
-they say because i’m not sure of my direction.
-i say because i wanted you to catch me.
you are the land that barely breathes.
-they say because no one had watered your garden
-you say because you were waiting for me to soak into your soil.
we are the trickle the sprinkle the geyser the gush
the creek the crawl the river the wider the ocean the awe . . .
-they say it’s because opposites attract.
-we swirl in our whirlpool and laugh at the moon.